IMPERFECTLY PERFECT // Natasha Wheat

Nucifera Body

February 13, 2019

Part of bringing together a collection of women in this space is for my own selfish desire to get a little peak behind the curtain. I meet and get to know so many moms who are actually much more awesome in person than their Instagram accounts would lead you to believe. Funny, open, honest, irreverent, and plenty real.

The social media space is fraught with perfection. It takes nothing to cast yourself in good lighting and push the mess aside. The things that make us uniquely human are not all perfect, and they don’t all fit in a 1080 X 1080 box. Our quirks are what our real friends love about us, and what our spouses and partners have to deal with when living with us. The physical characteristics, bad habits and other areas that we may or may not love are things that we have to learn to embrace. In fact, some of them aren’t that bad at all and they just make us who we are.

When I first asked to be introduced to Natasha, it came with a warning: "She is cooler than we are" - which made me laugh - but is also probably true. She is a brilliant artist, creative, wife, and new mother. She is expander worthy for sure, and someone I look forward to getting to know.

Your 3 Word Bio:

Burn It Down

What is your one physical characteristic that you’ve had to grow to love, but at times would have changed?

I have ears that I really dig. They stick out of my hair. I wear a diamond on the tip of one and love to wear hats so that the tips stick out further. I’m grateful to have been raised by free love nudist pervs, as the concept of body shame wasn’t something that we were even aware of growing up. It was never about being attractive or being “right”, like having the right posture or features or weight. It was total acceptance but like you didn’t even know that non-acceptance was an option. Deplorable parents in many other ways but knocked it out of the park with the self image stuff.

What would your husband, spouse, kids, or any roommates you’ve ever had say is your least appealing quality?

I’m a natural organizer... AKA I’m bossy AF. Monster, I’m a monster. And I will throw your things away and tell you you’re messy when you are just trying to live.

You are an artist and a new mom. How do you find working as a creative and balancing motherhood? (I've personally found it challenging!)

I found that making a person uses very similar energy to making art in the studio. I envisioned myself wanting be back in the studio full-time shortly after having our son, but soon discovered that I was enamored with him and the newness of the life that he brought, and all of the deep creative opportunity that presented itself along with him. Everything from designing/building furniture for our home, designing sculptural play objects for our back yard, baking him tiny loaves of geometric banana bread that look like Donald Judd baked them, putting together tiny goth looks, collaborations with him in my painting studio and ceramics studio, and our glorious Casio keyboard jams, playing so hard to be present. So one year later I am just now back fully immersed in my practice in the studio, trying to soak up a little less oil paint into my body than before, but feeling like a wiser more aggressive artist than when I went on maternity leave from painting. I am being the artist that I want him to know me as, and that means not f-ing around

Where do you seek inspiration? And has this changed since having a child?

We go to art museums and galleries one or two days a week. Living in the middle of a city is magical in that you get to live amongst the great things that humans do and build. Art making is humanism at its best; an OK painter once said that "Art is the highest form of hope".

With 30 minutes of free time, what would you do?

I will take my free time on a beach in Portugal. Or dancing at Berghaine and then when the 30 minutes ends I’m back in bed (this is actually how long I would probably go out for anyways)

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

My practice is a series of gestures and actions that create moments of emancipation. It is temporary small change that is the most powerful and most sustainable. Utopias are temporary.

A few unread emails or 1000’s?

I let it ride until it cuts me off, just like when I used to go to bars.

Honestly, packrat or minimalist?

Die hard minimalist. If you have ever given me a gift I most likely gave it away or threw it away, but I might have returned it. I’m sorry it’s nothing personal. I’m not sorry. Please stop looking for the gift when you come over.

What keeps you up at night? I imagine the things that I am going to build while I want to be sleeping and I often have to get out of bed to draw them. Then I wish I could nap during the studio day, it’s the human condition.